One of my favorite parts of SXSW is the crazy things you see and hear along the way. Here are a few choice selections. ON ARTISTS You laugh, but finding a good band name is still the hardest fucking part, I hope you know that. I mean, Foo Fighters is the stupidest fucking name in […]
SXSW 2013: The Sounds, Part 2
The True Believers Austin’s The True Believers were high on, if not at the top of, my list of bands to see at SXSW. Nearly thirty years ago they established a reputation as a powerhouse rock and roll band. Given that I wasn’t attending many rock shows thirty years ago so I was downright giddy […]
SXSW 2013: The Sounds, Part 1
Patty Griffin One listen to a Patty Griffin song and you’ll understand why she has developed an almost cultish following. She is, quite simply, an extraordinary songwriter. New West Records, her new record label, arranged a private showcase at a South Austin mansion called the Castle to celebrate her forthcoming release. It was an event […]
Monday Morning Video: Couch By Couchwest
Some travel to see bands, others let the bands come to them. So while SXSW brought thousands to Austin, the annual Couch Couch By Couchwest brought the music to you. The annual online festival invites artists, most of whom are not attending SXSW, to submit videos of themselves performing songs. Artists have fun with it, […]
Shooter Jennings – The Other Life
The new Shooter Jennings album â€The Other Life†is a conversation starter. Specifically it is a catalyst for two related reflections. The first is family. The second is the current state of the Country Music industry. With Nashville as a hub, these two conversations create a coherent theme. With respect to family, we see Jennings […]
Win Big: A Joe Pug Signed Vinyl Give-Away
One of the best parts of Twangville is discovering an artist early in their career. It is incredibly satisfying watching said performer build an audience and grow as an artist. In that light, it was great to see Joe Pug when he passed through Boston a few weeks ago. From his early days as an […]
Cash Box Kings – Black Toppin’
The Cash Box Kings are the real deal. These Chicago musicians have dedicated themselves to playing in the tradition of 1950s Chicago blues. From the first guitar licks on Black Toppin’, the band’s sixth offering and second for Blind Pig Records, it feels as though you could be listening in on a studio session at Chess Records, with the […]
New American Farmers – Brand New Day
Mars, Arizona. Â Wind and sun the primary elements of nature, the tumbleweeds rolling through town, red sand whipped into dust devils with nothing but cactus to impede their motion. Â Like so many small towns in America, the burden of providing for its citizens outweighing a rapidly diminishing tax base until there’s no choice but to […]
Monday Morning Video: Langhorne Slim
Let’s start our week with Langhorne Slim burning through “Fire” from last year’s The Way We Move.
Southern Hospitality – Easy Livin’
Southern Hospitality has served up a southern fried delicacy with its debut album, East Livin’. Produced by Louisiana blues guitar-slinger Tab Benoit, “SOHO” members J.P. Soars, Damon Fowler and Victor Wainwright, have followed a swampy gumbo recipe reminiscent of classic southern rockers Little Feat (during the Lowell George years) with a selection ranging from soul-inflected blues, to country, to […]